Return of the Empire
by KJ
Summary: Five rangers go off on what should be an easy mission destroying what's left of the Machine Empire. But even the simplest missions can go wrong.


**Authors Notes:** This is the next fic in the Ranger Scrolls series. Hope you enjoy.

Power Rangers  
"Return of the Empire"

Rocky DeSantos stood in the Command Chamber along with Kimberly Heart, both in shock over what Billy Cranston was trying to tell them. Not that anyone else was taking it any better, but it was effecting them more.

Rocky couldn't help but think about what happened a few days ago, what had started it all. He couldn't help but think about what he could have done to change things, to keep them from being where they were right now. His mind drifted back to what had started it all only a few short days earlier...

* * *

Andros was standing on the Megaship trying to scan channels to see if he could find out anything that was going on in the evil realm. Sometimes he could pick up scrambled communications, that was how he found out about Zordon in the first place. He was excited when he realized his efforts were going to pay off as he was able to pick up on something.

It took him a while to clean it up enough to figure out what he had picked up, to realize the severity of what he was hearing. He took off quickly leaving the bridge of the ship, with Alpha close behind. "Andros, where are you going?", Alpha asked

"I have to get this information to the others.", he replied. He wasted no time heading down to Earth and going straight for the Command Chamber.

"Andros, what are you doing here?", Billy asked as he paused to look and see who his visitor was

"I have information I need to share with the rangers. All of the rangers.", Andros replied. Billy nodded in response and left to go contact the others. With in moments multi colored streaks came flying in, dissolving into the two ranger teams.

"What's going on?", Tommy Oliver asked. This was the first time since the formation of the Astro team that Andros had information for them. As the leader of the rangers, he couldn't help but worry about what he might have found out.

"Like Billy said, I have some news for you. Something's come up, something that requires our immediate attention.", Andros started to explain. All eyes were on him as he continued. "I intercepted a communication from Prince Gasket to Astronema. He and Archerina are on a distant planet working on putting the Machine Empire back together. They want to enter this fight."

"Great the last thing we need right now is a resurgence of the Machine Empire. We've got enough to deal with.", Carri Hillard pointed out

Ashley Hammond looked around at her fellow rangers. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go stop them."

"Actually I called you all here because I have a different idea.", Andros said. He didn't want to take his team of relatively inexperienced rangers to face Gasket and Archerina. He was hoping he could get a volunteer or two from the Zeo's who had experience with Gasket and Archerina, and he would leave Astro rangers in their place temporarily, leaving both teams full. "Gasket and Archerina are difficult foes. Some of you have had experience with them before. Which is why I'm asking for some of the Ninja Zeo's to go in place of some of the Astro Rangers. It will be helpful to have some people there that know how to deal with the duo."

The Ninja Zeo team looked at each other. All of them except for Kim had previous experience with Gasket and Archerina, it was just a matter of who wanted to volunteer to go into space. Jason and Rocky were both hesitant to go for the same reasons they wanted to stay on Earth in the first place, their obligations to others.

Carri on the other hand, was not. She remembered fighting Gasket and Archerina and would love the opportunity to foil their plans once again. "I'll go.", she said stepping forward.

"Me too.", Tommy added as he stepped forward as well. He thought about it long and hard, but it came down to the fact that he still felt like he owed them payback for what they did to him. Not only that, but he didn't want them down on Earth coming after him and his friends again. It was hard enough dealing with Rita, Zedd and Divatox.

"I'll need two rangers to stay.", Andros said looking over at his team. Cassie and Carlos both volunteered to sit this one out, as they could both use the extra time on Earth. Andros looked over at the two Ninja Zeo's. "I'll give you some time to get some stuff together, but we need to move quickly."

Tommy and Carri nodded and both quickly teleported out. Both went home and threw some essentials in a duffle bag before all stopping at the apartment on their way to meet Andros.

"Are you sure you want to do this?", Kim asked as she put her arms around Tommy

Tommy nodded in response. "Andros is right. We need to help."

"Just promise me you'll be careful.", she said as she looked up at him

"Promise.", Tommy replied

Rocky put a finger under Carri's chin and softly turned her head away from Tommy and Kim's conversation and back to him. "Same goes for you.", he said as he smiled at her. He was glad she volunteered, but he hated her going as he was going to worry about her the entire time.

"You know me.", she replied smiling up at him

He laughed at her. "Yes and that's what I'm afraid of."

She smiled as she planted a kiss on his lips, then looked around at both Jason and Kim. "I don't know what you guys are going to do without me.", she joked as she walked over and gave them both a goodbye hug

"I think we'll manage.", Jason replied with a smile giving her a hug back

As Carri was giving out hugs, Tommy said goodbye to both Jason and Rocky. "Take care of the team while I'm gone.", Tommy said to Rocky. With Tommy off planet, that left Rocky in charge since he was the red ranger and had slightly more experience. Jason thought it would be weird with Rocky in charge, but with the flow of the team Jason was third in line behind both the white and red rangers which was something he would respect.

"Well if LA or Angel Grove's not here when we get back, we know who to blame.", Carri said jokingly. Rocky smiled at her as he scooped her up and gave her a kiss. She laughed and looked over at Tommy and Kim, who were sharing one last embrace as well.

"We had better get back.", Tommy said as he looked over at Carri and she nodded. "Andros is waiting and we need to get moving."

Both rangers picked up their duffle bags and teleported back to the Command Chamber. When they appeared they saw the Astro team standing there waiting. "Are you ready to go?", Andros asked as he looked at the duo

They nodded their heads, then they each turned for one last hug and kiss with their significant others before walking to stand with Andros. Cassie and Carlos went to stand with the three Ninja Zeo rangers. They all said their goodbyes as they watched the five rangers teleport to the Megaship.

"So...", Cassie said as she turned to look at her temporary team, "now what?"

"Now you go do what you would normally do.", Billy replied. Both Cassie and Carlos were used to spending most of their time in space and weren't sure where to go from here. "I'll page you if you're needed.", Billy added

"So is everything going to be alright? I mean with the mixed teams and all.", Carlos questioned. He had been wondering how everything was going to work, and now was a good a time as any to ask.

"You all still have your individual powers and weapons, which should suffice against anything Divatox or Rita and Zedd can send down. If you need the zords, I fixed it so that you and Cassie can pilot the red and yellow Super Zeo Zords, and the panther and falcon Ninja Zeo Zords.", Billy explained

Jason and Rocky eyed each other. They weren't sure if it was a good idea to give Carlos the access to Tommy's zords, they thought that they would have been better off if Rocky had operated them, since he had more experience and he was left in charge. Not to mention Carlos had never piloted zords like this. But while they were waiting for Tommy and Carri to pack, Billy explained to them that it would have been much easier to let Carlos pilot the zords than to try to switch everything around. Plus Billy didn't think it would hurt if for a few missions if Rocky's zord's took the lead while Tommy's hung back.

"So should we just go hang back on Earth?", Cassie asked still unsure of what they wanted her to do

"Why don't you come back with us. It would be fun.", Kim suggested. It would be nice to get to know the other two rangers, and she would definitely like to have another female around to converse with.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Sure why not."

"Carlos?", Kim asked looking toward him

"I'll come hang out.", he replied

"Should we go back to the apartment?", Jason asked

"Unless you have any better ideas.", Kim replied

Jason shook his head no. "Let's go then.", he said as the temporary team of five teleported out of the Command Chamber and back down to the surface

* * *

The five rangers arrived in the apartment. None of the Astro rangers had ever been there before, so Carlos and Cassie spent their first few minutes looking around. "Nice place.", Cassie commented as she finished looking at the bedrooms and walked back out into the living room

"Thank you.", Kim replied as she smiled at Cassie

"So what do you guys usually do?", Carlos asked as he leaned against the back of the couch

Jason sat down in the recliner. "Well," he started gesturing for Carlos and Cassie to sit. They did and he continued. "Usually just hang out."

"Shop.", Kim said as she sat down on the end of the couch and smiled over at Jason

Jason rolled his eyes in response. "Don't listen to her. None of the rest of us do."

"Hey!", Kim exclaimed looking at Jason and sticking her tongue out. She laughed and looked back as she heard Rocky's phone ring. He glanced at the caller ID and excused himself, walking into Carri's room to take the call.

"So," Kim started looking at Cassie and Carlos, "do you guys have anything in particular you want to do?"

"Not really.", Carlos replied. It had been a while since he had spent any length of time on Earth. They'd come back to Angel Grove for a day or two before they were back off doing ranger things. He'd love to play soccer, but he wasn't sure if anyone here was the soccer type. Other than that, there wasn't much he missed.

"I just want to relax.", Cassie said as she leaned back in the couch cushion.

Jason smiled. As rangers and students and people's friends and lovers, they often found themselves on the go so much they never had a lot of time to relax. The girls kept talking about taking a Saturday as a spa day, but every time something seemed to come up. Most of the time it was just Divatox or Rita and Zedd. He couldn't remember the last day that he got to just sit back and enjoy life.

Rocky came walking back into the living room a few minutes later. "How about we all go to the park. Since I kind of volunteered us."

"What do you mean volunteered us?", Jason questioned raising an eyebrow

Rocky sighed. "Well Jessica's been bugging me a lot lately and I thought I could be nice to her this once and hang out with her in the park, but I figured it would be more fun with all of you guys there so I said we'd go."

Jason couldn't help but laugh. "So you had to wait until Carri was out of the galaxy before you thought about hanging out with Jessica?"

"No that's not it at all. Carri doesn't care.", Rocky replied

Kim smiled and turned back toward him. "Much.", she added. In all honesty, Carri didn't mind Rocky talking to Jessica. She minded that Jessica loved him and hated her. And she knew what her friend was thinking every time that girls name was brought up. Kim would give her credit though, she managed to hold her tongue in front of Rocky. Of course she would let it all out later to Kim, but that was another story.

"It will be fun to get out and go to the park.", Rocky pointed out, trying to convince everyone to join him

"I'll go.", Cassie said. She didn't know what this Jessica thing was all about, but it might be relaxing to get some fresh air.

"Me too.", added Carlos

Jason and Kim glanced at each other before reluctantly agreeing to go. A few minutes later the five rangers were headed out the front door and towards the park just off of the campus. It didn't take long once they got there for Jessica to find them.

"Hey Rocky.", she said going over to give him a hug

"Hey.", he replied, returning the hug then pushing her gently back.

Kim smiled. Carri was going to love to hear about this when she got home.

Rocky gestured to his friends. "You remember Jason and Kim?", he asked as she nodded. "These are my friends Cassie and Carlos. And this is Jessica and Stephanie."

Jessica and her sister both said hello to the two new people. Jessica was excited to see that Rocky's girlfriend wasn't there, as they didn't exactly get along. She would hate to have to beat her up in front of Rocky. The group started to walk off. Rocky stood in between Kim and Jason, so Jessica walked in front of them. She turned and started to walk backwards so she could talk. "So I was thinking we could all play frisbee or something."

"Yeah that would be fun.", Rocky replied

Carlos looked at the older rangers and pointed up the hill. "What's going on up there?", he asked although he thought he knew

"They've got a soccer field up there.", Jason replied, watching as Carlos's eyes lit up. "You want to go check it out?"

"Sure.", Carlos said trying to hide his enthusiasm. Maybe he could find someone to play with.

The group went up the hill and stood off to the side of the scrimmage game. "I wish I could play.", Carlos said absentmindedly as they watched

A few minutes later, a soccer ball came flying in their direction. A man came running over to get it who Rocky recognized. "Thanks. I'll take that.", Matt Drake said as he held his hands out for the ball. Matt had been a friend of Carri's for years and Rocky had met him through her.

Rocky tossed the ball back. "Hey Matt.", he called out before he had a chance to walk away. "You got room for one more?", he asked motioning toward Carlos

Matt glanced down at Carlos. He remembered this guy, he had played soccer with Matt his last year at Angel Grove. Matt had been the team's star, being on his third year on the varsity squad, but Carlos had some serious talent. He was the talk of the JV team the previous two years, and Matt was under the impression that after he graduated Carlos would take over leading the team. "Yeah. Someone just bailed."

"Seriously?", Carlos asked and Matt nodded. Carlos had looked up to Matt as a junior at Angel Grove High. He remembered thinking he wanted to be the one to lead the team to state finals after Matt left. Carlos wasted no time running out to play.

"Where's your girl?", Matt asked as he was walking back toward the field

"She's...", Rocky started but wasn't quite sure what to say

"She's in New York.", Kim supplied. "Her mom freaked out about something and she flew home for the weekend."

Matt laughed. That sounded like her mother. "Alright. Tell her to call me when she gets home."

Rocky nodded and watched as he ran off. He didn't like Matt too terribly much, but he would certainly give her the message. As the ball came back into play, the group watched Carlos get into the action. It looked like it would be interesting to watch, as Carlos and Matt were on the same team and both were serious soccer players.

"You guys want to go have a seat?", Cassie asked as she pointed towards the benches

"Sure.", Kim replied as they all walked off to watch Carlos play soccer for a while

* * *

Carri headed down the corridors of the megaship and found herself leaning against the entranceway to Tommy's quarters. "What do you think? Pretty in pink?", she asked smiling. Andros had insisted that if they were going to be carrying out a mission on the Astro Megaship, that they would have to dress the part. Since Ashley was already yellow and there was no white, Carri was dressed with a pink shirt under her uniform, while Tommy was wearing black.

"I've seen better.", Tommy replied with a smile

Carri laughed and went to sit on the bed next to him. "Well black isn't exactly your color either."

Tommy smiled and leaned back against the wall, turning his head toward Carri. "You ready for this?", he asked

"Yeah. My only concern is that it's going to take so long to get there. Gasket and Archerina have had this coming for a long time now.", she replied

"You don't have to tell me that.", Tommy replied. Ever since they left and Mondo took back over he had wondered where they went off to and if they were coming back. He always wished they had destroyed them when they had the chance, because you never know when defeated enemies were going to come back to haunt you. Just look at Rita and Zedd.

"Hey guys.", Ashley greeted as she and TJ said came wondering into the room

"Hey.", Carri replied smiling up at her

"We thought we could be your official megaship tour guides.", TJ said as he flashed them both a smile

"We know you guys have been on the ship before.", Ashley continued. "But we figured Andros didn't show you everything and if you were going to spend some time up here you needed the official tour."

Tommy smiled. He really hadn't been on the ship long enough before to see much more than the infirmary and the bridge. From what Kim had said, the girls didn't get to experience much more than that. "We'd love a tour.", he said as Carri nodded in agreement

The two rangers got up and allowed TJ and Ashley to take them around the megaship so that they would know what was what. If they were going to spend the next week on the ship, they might as well get used to it.

* * *

The soccer match finished up about an hour after Carlos started playing. They hadn't really kept score, but anyone watching could figure that between the amount of goals that both Carlos and Matt scored, their team probably won.

Matt led Carlos off the field to get some water. "You're pretty good.", he said as he smiled at him. Carlos hadn't played much side by side with Matt in high school, but playing with him now, Matt wished he had. If Carlos had been a starter during Matt's senior year, Matt imagined that they would have not just beaten, but creamed every team they faced.

"Thank you.", Carlos replied. "You're not so bad yourself."

"You live in LA?", Matt questioned. It would be great if he went to USC, he could help the soccer team become national champions.

"No. I'm still in Angel Grove. I'm just visiting some friends this weekend.", Carlos told him

Matt made a face as he was kind of disappointed. At least if he couldn't play on the team, maybe he could play with them some on the weekends. "You in LA every weekend?"

"Sometimes.", Carlos replied. He could be in LA on the weekends, as long as he wasn't busy running around in space saving the world.

"Are you friends with Carri?", asked Matt

"We hang out sometimes. When I'm in LA.", Carlos replied. Or when she's in Angel Grove, or when they're saving the world together.

"We play pick up games every weekend. Just get my number from her, or tell her to call me when you're in town and you're welcome to come up and play with us.", Matt offered

Carlos smiled. "Thanks. That would be great.", he said. It was nice to know that if he had time to relax in between missions, he had a way to do what he enjoyed most.

"Listen, I've got to go.", Matt said as he looked past Carlos and smiled at his girlfriend Crystal. "I'll talk to you later.", he added as he jogged off to see her

"Bye.", Carlos called after him as he turned and watched him walk away

"Carlos that was awesome.", Cassie said from behind him as she and the others came over to say hi. Carlos turned to see them standing there. "Now I wish I had checked out some more high school soccer games."

"No you don't.", Carlos said with a smile

"Well...," Cassie started smiling back, "it would have been fun to watch you play."

"So do you guys want to keep going through the park?", Kim asked

"Yes.", Jessica said, the irritation in her voice showing. She was not thrilled to watch some strangers play soccer for an hour.

"Well we...", Jason started but was interrupted by the sound of a communicator. Jason looked around at the others for a moment. "Oh guys, we almost forgot about what we had to do."

"Oh yeah.", Rocky said jumping in. He looked over at Jessica and Stephanie. "Can you guys stay here for a sec? We'll be right back.", he said not giving them a real chance to answer as he and the other rangers took off. Once they got to somewhere secure, Rocky answered his communicator. "Go ahead."

"Guys there's a monster along with Rito and Goldar terrorizing citizens in Angel Grove park.", Billy explained

"Got it. We're on our way.", Rocky said looking over at the other two Ninja Zeo's. "It's morphin time!"

"Let's rocket!", Carlos yelled as all five rangers morphed and teleported to the scene

"Alright Goldar I suggest you leave these people alone.", Rocky said as he stood there and glared the monkey down

Goldar looked at the strange group in front of him, which included two pink rangers. "Where are your friends?", he asked looking around

"Newsflash Goldar. We don't need them to defeat you.", Jason pointed out

"We'll see about that.", Goldar said. And with a wave of his arm some of their hybrid's appeared in front of the trio.

Jason looked at the hybrids curiously. Not only were they part tenga and piranhatron, but they were part something else too. "Are they... part putty?", Jason asked

Kim looked at them as she ran to attack. "It looks like it."

"They just keep making these things uglier and uglier.", Rocky commented as he called for his Power Lance and attacked. The other rangers were quick to follow suite by calling on their weapons and attacking the hybrids as well.

After a difficult fight, the rangers defeated the hybrids and were standing in front of Rito, Goldar and the monster. Kim went to attack Rito while Jason attacked Goldar, leaving Rocky, Carlos and Cassie with the monster.

Goldar and Rito did not stay long, as Rita and Zedd were excited to see what this monster could do. They knew good and well that the other rangers had gone off in search of Gasket and Archerina. Secretly Zedd hoped that the rangers would succeed so he didn't have to worry about Gasket or Archerina any more. So they had gotten with Divatox to come up with this monster, hoping it would crush the ranger team that wasn't at full strength.

Rocky stood in front as the other rangers quickly fell in behind him. The team ran one at a time to try and attack the monster. But the monster was stronger than they anticipated, as he was able to throw them off easily. He started shooting mini missiles at them, causing the team to fly backwards. Kim stood up and got a few shots in with her bow, hoping to give them an opportunity to attack. The monster was hardly phased as he jumped back up and was shooting missiles again.

"What do we do now?", Cassie asked as she found herself laying on her back yet again

"Our weapons aren't helping. We need more firepower, something to knock this guy off of his feet.", Rocky said as he barely missed getting hit in the chest with a missile. "Billy we need help out here.", he called into his communicator as they continued to dodge attacks

Billy thought for a moment. He was working on upgrades to the Zeo Cannon, but hadn't gotten a chance to see them through yet. They could still call on the Zeo Cannon, and it would be just as powerful as combining all of the Ninja Zeo's weapons is. "Call on the Zeo Cannon.", he made his decision. "It's as powerful as your weapons put together are, it should knock him back."

"Alright.", Rocky said looking over at the others. "We need a distraction.", he said. His lance wouldn't effect the monster from back here. He thought that Cassie's Satellite Stunner, or Kim's bow would do the trick. Before the girls had the chance to jump into action, a black streak flew through the sky hitting the monster. Rocky was thankful for Trey's help as he and the other rangers stood up and tried to reorganize while the monster was distracted.

Rocky looked around at the team. "We need the Zeo Cannon now!", he yelled. The cannon fell into the rangers hands and they waited for Trey to jump out of the way before firing. Divatox wasted no time making the monster grow and the rangers were quick to call for their Ninja Zeo Zords.

Instead of fighting individually, with this being Cassie and Carlos's first trip in zords like these, the three Ninja Zeo rangers were quick to go ahead and form the Ninja Zeo Megazord. Rocky, Jason and Kim were trying to stay one step ahead of the creature, who was still trying to fire missiles at them. Cassie and Carlos were giving themselves the crash course on the controls of the zords while they assisted the other rangers.

The megazord was finding it hard to call on its saber as the monster continually fired. Much like the battle on Earth, Trey came to their aide by calling on Pyramidas and firing on the monster. As Pyramidas weakened the monster, the rangers called on their saber and easily finished him off.

"Not too bad.", Rocky said as they dropped back to the ground. He looked over at Jason who smiled and nodded in agreement. They were happy that the team worked well with Cassie and Carlos filling in for Carri and Tommy.

"That was amazing.", Carlos said referring to the zords

Cassie nodded her head in agreement. "It's too bad we don't have zords like that in space."

"Yeah but from what I hear your zord does just fine.", Jason said smiling at them

The two Astro rangers smiled as the others smiled back. "You guys ready to get back to the park?", Kim asked. The others nodded and the five rangers teleported back to where they were to begin with.

* * *

"Oh Zeddie I think I'm getting a headache.", Rita whined

Zedd growled. He thought for sure they'd win this battle, and the last thing he wanted to do after being handed that loss was listen to Rita whine. "If that blasted gold ranger hadn't have interfered we would have defeated those rangers." Now it was going to be time to go back to the drawing board. With Divatox. At least the hybrid's were tough, they had a lot of potential. He wished that draining Zordon's tube wasn't going to take as long, because now all he wanted to do was claim Earth for his own.

* * *

The rest of the day for the rangers of Earth went by uneventfully, as did the day for the rangers in space. According to DECA's calculations, it would take approximately another day to get to this planet. And to Andros's insistence, the rangers had gone to bed. He wanted them to be as rested as possible before they got there.

One ranger in particular couldn't sleep. The Yellow Ninja Zeo ranger tossed uncomfortably in her bed. She always had trouble with new surroundings so she decided to get up and wonder around for a bit. She found herself walking by the bridge, and she came to the realization that she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep that night, as Andros stood there watching a video of two children playing.

"Who's that?", Carri asked as she stood in the entrance to the bridge

Andros stopped the video and quickly spun around to see who was watching him. He couldn't believe he had been caught twice while thinking about his sister. "What are you doing up?", he asked

She shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"You know on KO-35 there are some beverages that can help with that.", Andros replied

"Yeah.", she said. "Actually I was thinking about making some hot tea. Care to join me?", she asked gesturing back in the general direction of the synthetron

Andros thought for a moment. He could use something to help him sleep. All he could think about lately was his sister. And he knew that he had to listen to his own advice, he was no good to anyone if he couldn't get any sleep. "Sure.", he said

Andros let her lead him off toward the workbay. When they arrived Andros had a seat and Carri went to the synthetron to fix them some drinks. She came over and sat down, sitting a cup in front of each of them. Andros took a sip of the beverage. "What's this?", he asked

Carri took a drink then smiled at him. "It's called Sleepytime tea. My mom used to give it to me when I was sick. It would make my throat feel better then knock me out. I still drink it occasionally sick or not, it makes me drowsy.", she replied. She glanced over at the red Astro ranger. "You still didn't answer my question."

Andros sighed heavily. "The little boy was me. The girl is my sister. Karone. She was kidnaped when we were little."

"Is she, I mean," she paused unsure of how to phrase the question

"She's alive somewhere. I know she is.", Andros replied to the unasked question as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm going to find her.", he said aloud, more for his own benefit than Carri's.

Carri didn't respond as she wasn't sure what to say. This was obviously a touchy subject for Andros. She couldn't imagine the pain he went through not knowing about his sister. If something ever happened to Josh she didn't know what she would do.

Andros didn't give her a chance to respond as he decided to change the subject. "Are you nervous about the mission?"

She smiled at him. This was something she could talk about. "Nervous? Not in the least. I've fought enough battles as a ranger that any nerves I may have had about battle are long since gone. I'm ready to take them on, to save the world."

"It's going to be difficult.", Andros pointed out. Like her, he had fought plenty of times before and wasn't nervous about the battle itself. What made him nervous was that they weren't completely sure what they were getting into and that Ashley and TJ were fairly new to this. They were learning quickly and had become good rangers, but Astronema sending monsters down was different from what they were about to do. They were taking on the leaders of the once mighty Machine Empire. He had hoped that Carri and Tommy's presence would be enough to even the scales.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Every battle is difficult. That never stopped me from calling on the power and kicking ass.", Carri said as she grinned at him. She was hoping to get a smile from him but the serious look remained on his face.

"It's not you who I'm worried about."

Carri tried hard not to grin at that comment. She wasn't sure if he was worrying as a red ranger or as someone who has interest in one of the rangers in question. "Ashley and TJ are fine. They've learned quickly. This is going to be different, perhaps more difficult for them. But if anything we can take the more difficult road in battle and leave them with something easier."

Andros remained silent as he absorbed her words. He watched as she looked at him waiting for a response. "You may be right. I just worry for their safety."

"As their red ranger or as a man with a crush?", Carri blurted out. She wasn't going to say anything, but her mouth got the better of her.

"What are you talking about?", Andros asked raising one eyebrow

She smiled at him. "I've seen the way you look at Ashley. When you guys have been on Earth, I've watched you check her out. I doubt she's noticed, but I for sure have."

"That's absurd. Besides rangers aren't supposed to get involved with each other.", Andros said. What he wasn't going to admit was that Carri was right, he was attracted to Ashley. But he certainly wasn't going to say something, not now, not to her.

"You're speaking to the wrong person.", Carri said as she couldn't help but laugh

"Both yours and Tommy's relationships have effected your performances as rangers.", Andros pointed out

"It's hard when someone you love gets injured. But we're all better rangers than that. You have no idea how many times I've stayed level headed and rushed to save the world when any normal girlfriend would have been struggling to keep it together."

Andros nodded. He would have to admit, he was impressed by both her and Kim's actions when they thought the male rangers were dead. They were not mourning, instead they were staying strong and trying to save the world. It was possible for rangers to see each other, but it still could be dangerous.

"Anyway," Carri continued, "it is possible for you to have a relationship with Ashley and if you were to have interest in her, I think you two would make a cute couple."

Andros looked down at his empty tea cup and noticed hers was empty too. "I think it's time we try and get some rest."

Carri looked down and noticed she was finished with her beverage. He was right, but she knew he was just changing the subject. Again. As hard as she tried, he was not one to talk about personal subjects. "I guess you're right.", she replied

Andros stood and took the cup out of her hands, then he led her back towards the quarters. She went in and laid down, and Andros did the same. Both rangers finally drifted off to sleep trying to get some rest for the next day.

* * *

The following morning started off just as any other morning would. Rocky awoke and went to Angel Grove to work. He had gotten a call early that morning from Jason, who had picked up a call from Matt on Carri's cell phone, asking if Carlos was still around and if he would like to practice with him. He woke the black ranger up, who had slept beside him in Tommy's empty dorm room bed that night. Carlos was quick to get up and get ready before joining Matt at the park

On the other side of campus, the remaining three rangers were getting up and getting ready to enjoy their Sunday as well. Jason sat at the kitchen table drinking a soda and thinking about his day as he watched his friends come out and sit on the couch. "I think I'm going to Angel Grove today.", Jason spoke

"To see Emily?", Kim questioned and Jason nodded in response

"Mind if I tag along?", Cassie asked. She hung out last night and hadn't felt like going home, but tonight she wanted to curl up in her own bed. Kim had volunteered Carri's bed, figuring she wouldn't mind if another ranger slept there. "I think I'm going to stay at my place tonight."

"Not a problem.", Jason replied

Kim thought for a moment. She really had nothing to do in LA that day, especially since her partner in crime was busy flying across the universe along with her boyfriend. "I think I'll come too. I haven't been to the Youth Center in a while."

"Sounds good. I can drop you girls off there on my way to Emily's place.", Jason suggested

"Emily's not working today?", Kim questioned

Jason shook his head no. "We're going at around one for a picnic."

"Well then we probably should get moving.", Kim pointed out. Jason nodded and finished his beverage as the two girls finished getting ready before taking off.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Kim and Cassie found themselves walking into the Youth Center. They headed up to the counter and both smiled and greeted Ernie. "Hello girls.", Ernie greeted the duo. It was strange seeing Cassie there with Kim. He knew Cassie, but had no idea she was friends with the pink ranger. "What can I get for you?"

Both girls ordered lunch before walking over to sit at one of the round tables. "So did you guys hang out here a lot?", Kim asked

"Sort of. We hung around some last year. That's how I met Ashley.", Cassie responded. "What about you?"

"We used to come almost everyday after school.", Kim replied with a smile. Sometimes she missed those days. Everything was different now. But, that was all part of growing up.

"Almost?", a heavily accented Australian voice spoke. "I'm pretty sure we were coming here every day."

Kim turned to see Katherine Hillard approaching. Her hair was wet and she had a duffle bag in her hand. Kim assumed she had just finished her dance lessons and had taken a shower. "Kat how are you?", Kim asked with a smile as Kat pulled up a chair and sat down between them. She wasn't sure if she wanted Kat sitting there, it seemed kind of awkward without Carri there. It's not that they weren't friends, it was, well... actually she wasn't sure if they were friends or not.

Ever since Florida happened, then Kim came home and started dating Kat's exboyfriend, became her cousin's best friend, and took her powers things had been strange between them. They were nice enough to each other when Carri was around, but Kim sometimes wondered if it was for Carri's sake more than anything. Since the argument Carri and Kat had, she really wasn't sure if Kat liked her at all. But yet, here Kat was, sitting with them and trying to be friendly.

"I'm doing good.", Kat replied smiling at Kim. She looked over at Cassie. She was going to ask to be introduced, but something about the girl looked familiar. "Do you go to Angel Grove College?", Kat asked

Cassie smiled and nodded. She knew she had seen the blonde woman before, she just wasn't sure where until she said it. They had a class together the previous semester. "Cassie Chan.", she said introducing herself

"Katherine Hillard.", Kat said. "But you can call me Kat."

Cassie made a face. She found it odd that the girl she was standing in for had the same last name. Kat picked up on her reaction. "Is something wrong?", Kat asked

"Nothing's wrong.", Cassie replied. She didn't realize her thoughts were that transparent. "I just thought it was interesting that I had never heard that last name before. I made friends with a girl a few weeks ago with the same name and here it is again."

Kat looked at her oddly and Kim smiled. Kat tried hard not to laugh as she realized who Cassie probably meant. "Carri?", she questioned and Cassie nodded. "So you know my cousin?"

"Cousin?", Cassie repeated. Kat smiled at her and nodded. "Wow I wouldn't think... I mean you two just look so different to be part of the same family."

"Don't worry we get that reaction all the time.", Kat replied. She turned toward Kim. "So where is my cousin I'd love to say hi."

"Actually she's probably a few galaxy's away by now.", Kim informed her

Kat glanced at her strangely. She wasn't sure if she was being literal or not. "What has she gone crazy or something?"

"No actually she and Tommy went with three of the Astro rangers to find Gasket and Archerina to help destroy them before they could reform the Machine Empire.", Kim replied, lowering her voice and leaning in to talk

Kat didn't know who the Astro rangers were or what was going on, and she was surprised that Kim spoke like this in front of Cassie. What she didn't know was that Cassie was thinking the same thing about her.

"Kim can you, I mean," Cassie didn't know how to phrase it but she shot a look over at Kat then gave Kim an are you crazy look

"Oh.", Kim said as she realized that the two girls didn't know that the other was a ranger. "Cassie, Kat was the pink ranger while I was gone. And Kat, I'm sure you've noticed the two teams around Angel Grove and LA.", Kim started. Kat nodded. "The team that's a Zeo mix is us, the other team is the Astro team, and they spend most of their time in space chasing Astronema and searching for Zordon. Cassie is one of them, she's the Pink Astro Ranger."

Kat thought for a moment before she smiled. "Another pink ranger then?", she asked looking over at Cassie who smiled back at her and nodded. "So how are you enjoying it?"

"I love it.", Cassie was quick to respond. "The things we've done, the things we've seen in the last month have just been amazing."

Kat nodded remembering some of her own feelings as a ranger. She sat there silently for a moment as her curiosity about the mission got the best of her. She wasn't sure what Kim wanted to share, but since Archerina and Gasket had tormented her when she was a ranger, she felt like she had a right to know. "So they're going after Archerina and Gasket?"

"Yeah. We've got too much to deal with right now to have a resurgence of the Machine Empire. If they join this fight... well it may be the end of the world as we know it. Andros wanted to stop it before it got that far.", Kim explained. She understood why Kat was curious since she had fought against Gasket and Archerina as well.

"So the entire Zeo team didn't go?", asked Kat

"Ninja Zeo.", Kim corrected. "And no, Andros only wanted two volunteers to help and Tommy and Carri were it."

Kat made a face. "I'm surprised that Rocky didn't volunteer to go with Carri.", she commented

Kim assumed that was more of a comment than a question so she didn't elaborate. Besides if Kat wanted to stay that in tune with all their missions, she would have taken her powers back after she had been turned good again.

Seeing that Kim was done discussing the mission Kat continued. "So when will they be back?"

"Hopefully within the next few days.", Kim replied. She made a face as she looked up and noticed who was coming their way.

"Hello ladies.", Chris Black said as he leaned down and gave Kat a kiss. Kat returned his greeting and his kiss before introducing him to Cassie.

Cassie smiled and said hello to Kat's boyfriend. Kim smiled and said hello as well, although she wasn't sure if she really wanted to. From a combination of Carri's opinion, her friend Mollie's stories that Carri had shared with her, and her own experiences she wasn't really fond of him. Besides if one were to assume Tommy was Kat's type, then Chris was definitely not. But Kim figured it was whatever made you happy. And Chris, for whatever reason, made Kat happy.

"Am I interrupting?", he asked

Kim was inclined to say yes but her good judgement won out. "No, not at all."

Chris quickly pulled up a chair and sat in between Cassie and Kat. Cassie looked him over as he sat down then smiled at him. He wasn't exactly her type but she figured he was alright. "So did you come to hang out with the girls?", Cassie asked with a smile

"No actually I came to take Kat out.", Chris replied returning her smile. "But since everyone's always so busy it's cool to hang out with the girls for a bit."

Kat looked over at him and smiled. They had a date planned for the afternoon, but it was nice of him to let her visit some more first. She missed everybody, and even though everybody wasn't here she could at least talk to Kim and get gossip from her. "So how are the others doing? It's been so long since I've talked to anybody."

"The boys are good. Not much has changed. Well except with Billy.", Kim said as she couldn't help but smile. What has changed with Billy was for the better for him. "We hardly ever see him anymore now that his girlfriend is commuting between her work and him."

"Oh?", Kat questioned. She figured it had to do something with the rangers since as far as she knew Trini was still in Europe. She looked over at Kim waiting for more details about her friends, but Kim looked like she was done talking. Kat sighed, it was a lot more different than she thought it would be. She thought even though she'd left the rangers and gone back home, she could still stay close to them. She and Carri talk occasionally, but nothing like what they used to do. Kat figured she would just have to take her next break to drive up to LA and visit with her friends.

Kim flashed her a smile as Ernie came and placed plates of food in front of her and Cassie. "Thanks Ernie."

"You're welcome.", he replied smiling as he walked off

Kat looked at the two girls as they started to eat lunch. She turned toward Chris. "Well, I guess we should let them eat.", she said and Chris nodded. Kat turned to Kim and smiled. "It was good to see you again.", she said as she turned back toward Cassie. "And it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you.", Cassie replied. Kat and Chris stood up and Cassie said goodbye to the duo.

"Bye. See you guys later.", Kim called as they were exiting the Youth Center. Kat turned and gave Kim a quick wave before they took off. "Finally.", Kim said turning back to her lunch

"What you don't like them?", Cassie asked as she took a bite of her sandwich. "They seem nice enough. And she's a former ranger."

Kim smiled at the Astro ranger. "It's complicated."

"Does Carri know how you feel about her cousin?", Cassie asked, wondering as she said it if it was an appropriate question or not

Kim tried not to laugh. Of course Carri knew exactly how she felt. And Carri wasn't sure what the answer was to the were Kim and Kat friends or not question. She did know that at one point last summer Kim was probably closer to Kat than she was. Kim finished swallowing her bite of sandwich before answering. "Like I said, it's complicated."

"So," Cassie started trying to change subjects, "any plans for this afternoon?"

"I wanted to go shopping. Do you shop?", Kim asked grinning at her

"Sometimes.", Cassie replied

"Wanna go?", Kim questioned. It was always more fun to have someone to go with you than to go by yourself. She wasn't sure if Cassie could keep up with her, and she figured she would probably never want to go with her again, but it would still be fun.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders. She had nothing better to do and it would be fun to get to hang out with the original pink ranger. "Sure."

"Ok then. After lunch we'll go.", Kim replied. The girls both finished their sandwiches so they could go out and go shopping. They said goodbye to Ernie before exiting the Youth Center and heading toward the mall.

As they crossed through the park, a figure appeared in front of them. "Miss me?", Astronema asked as she and the Quantrons appeared. Astronema had heard that Andros had gone and left some of his team behind. She figured without their leader, the black and pink rangers were vulnerable. If she could separate and destroy them, then Andros wouldn't be full strength when he started chasing her around the galaxy again.

"Not really.", Cassie replied as she and Kim stood in a fighting stance. Cassie glanced over at Kim and nodded as both girls simultaneously called for their morphers and transformed. They almost didn't have time to morph as the Quantrons were quickly advancing.

They dove into battle with the Quantrons. They were so concerned with fighting them, that they had all but forgotten about Astronema. So they didn't notice when the princess of evil called for a monster to come join the fight. They didn't notice him up until he grabbed Cassie from behind.

"Let me go!", Cassie yelled

"Let me think about it... how about... no.", the monster growled

"I'd rethink that if I were you.", Kim said as she stood bow out with the arrows pointed at him

The monster laughed at her. "Go ahead shoot. You'll hit your little friend too."

"Just do it!", Cassie said as she struggled to get free

Astronema looked at the standoff and laughed. She would easily be able to get away with the destruction of the Pink Astro Ranger. The smile she formed stayed on her face until something caught her eye. She swore under her breath as the Red Ninja Zeo Ranger attacked her monster from behind with his lance, zapping him and forcing him to let go of Cassie. She had sent Darkonda and Ecliptor to keep those male rangers busy. Either they were worthless or something had gone wrong.

Astronema watched the three rangers fight for a while before she called for more Quantrons. They arrived and started to attack the rangers. Just as the princess of evil started to think that she might get those Astro rangers after all, the two black rangers appeared along with the Gold Ranger. Trey was not something she had counted on. Out of frustration she made the monster grow then took off, leaving them to deal with her city wrecking size creation.

"Looks like we got here just in time for the party.", Jason pointed out

"Yup. We need Ninja Zeo Zord power now!", Rocky called as their zords came running toward them

Trey looked at the others and assumed they would need his help. "I call upon the power of Pyramidas!"

The monster found himself staring at the two zords. "Oh goodie you brought your toys for me to break.", he said as he fired

The Ninja Zeo Megazord stumbled back as Pyramidas fired on the monster. The monster didn't seem too phased as he fired back. "Man what is with this guy?", Rocky asked as they made some quick adjustments using the control panels and jumped back into battle

"I don't know but we need to finish him off quickly.", Jason pointed out

"He can handle two zords, but do you think he can manage three?", Kim asked as she looked at her teammates. She wanted to bring out the Super Zeo Zords.

Rocky thought for a moment. "Sounds like a plan.", he said looking at the other rangers. "Jason, you take Cassie and Carlos for the Super Zeo Zords. We'll help Trey hold him off until the megazord is formed."

"Right.", Jason said nodding at him. "We need Super Zeo Zord power now!", he yelled as he and the two Astro rangers jumped from the Ninja Zeo Megazord. A few minutes later the Super Zeo Megazord was in the battle. And it too was taking hits from the monster.

"He's got too much offence. We can't get a shot it.", Kim pointed out

"What if we send Pyramidas and the Super Zeo Megazord in front? It may give us time to charge our saber and attack.", Rocky suggested

"That may just work.", Jason agreed with him

"It may have to work.", Cassie pointed out as she and Carlos, along with Jason led an assault on the monster with Pyramidas close behind

"We're only going to get one shot at this.", Kim said looking over at Rocky

"Then we had better make it good.", he replied. They called for their saber and waited for it to fall into the Megazords hands. They brought both pieces of the saber together, holding them high and waiting for them to charge themselves.

"Ok move!", Rocky ordered the other zords. The Ninja Zeo Megazord quickly leaped forward at the monster, slashing him and taking him out for good.

As the monster fell, the five rangers jumped from their zords and back to the ground, sending the zords back into their holding bay. Jason looked at the others. "I don't know about you guys, but I've got a date to get back to.". he said teleporting out

"And I've got to get back to work.", Rocky added as he teleported off as well

Carlos brought his communicator to his wrist and smiled at them. "Soccer.", he said simply before he was gone

Kim looked over at Cassie. "I believe we had a mall to get to?"

Cassie smiled at her. "Yes we did."

With that, the two female rangers took of to try and enjoy the rest of their Sunday afternoon.

* * *

The rangers in space had tried to enjoy their Sunday as well. Carri spent most of the afternoon gossiping with Ashley, while Tommy worked on getting to know TJ. Andros stayed away from most of the conversation, spending much of his day working on the megaship and formulating battle plans. Andros only stopped when the other four rangers insisted that he come visit with him for a while.

As the day went on, the rangers got closer and closer to the planet in question. At one point DECA informed Andros that they were about twelve hours out. Dinnertime had just past, so Andros suggested that his team rest up before they got there because they were in for a long battle. Ashley and TJ immediately obeyed their leader, while Carri slipped into Tommy's quarters and spent the first part of the night discussing with him what they should do with Gasket and Archerina when they got there. Eventually they both went to sleep, only to be awakened hours later by DECA, who was informing all the rangers that they were coming up on the planet.

Each of the rangers got up and put their uniforms off before making their way to the bridge. Andros started to scan the planet trying to figure out what they were up against before they got there. "This is strange.", he said looking at the readouts

"What?", Tommy asked. Strange was never usually a good thing.

"They're mining the core of the planet for materials.", Andros said

"Well that makes sense. They need strong raw materials to build the empire back up.", Carri pointed out. It didn't seem strange, at least not to her.

"There's an abundance of things they need in the core, but there's also a lot of unstable elements down there. One wrong move and the entire planet is gone.", Andros elaborated on his earlier thoughts

"Well maybe we can just leave them to blow themselves up.", Ashley suggested. If the planet was that unstable, she figured it would have to happen eventually.

Tommy shook his head no. "Gasket is smarter than that."

"So what do we do?", asked TJ

Andros turned to look at the other rangers. "We'll have to go down there on the Galaxy Gliders. We'll get an up close look and take it from there.", he said pushing past the others and walking off for the jump tubes.

Carri and Tommy stood back and watched as each of the three rangers stood in front of a tube. "What about us?"

"You'll have to morph first, then jump into the tubes. I have it rigged so you can use Cassie and Carlos's gliders.", Andros explained

Tommy nodded then didn't waste any time. "It's morphin time!", he yelled as the three Astro rangers were preparing to enter the tubes. He and Carri morphed quickly they jumped in the tubes behind them.

Seconds later all five Galaxy Gliders were headed for the planet's surface. They saw where all the action was taking place and they landed on a hill behind the Machine Empire. All the rangers crawled up the hill and peered over.

"So should we just attack?", TJ asked

"Not without a plan.", Andros warned

Carri looked at Ashley and TJ. "Why don't you guys keep the cogs busy.", she suggested

Ashley got a good look at the cogs. "Weren't those the things I saw that day at school?", she asked as Carri nodded

Tommy grabbed Carri's arm to get her attention. "Is that Silo?", he asked pointing toward the monster that was barking orders at the cogs.

Carri got a good look. "Haven't we destroyed him enough times by now?", she asked

"I'll face him.", Andros volunteered. He was the leader and he felt like it was his duty to take on the monster.

"Good then that leaves us with them.", Carri replied as Gasket and Archerina came into view

"You ready to do this?", Tommy asked. Carri nodded and before Andros could protest they leaped forward and stood in front of their enemies.

"Tommy and Carri. So nice of you to drop by.", Gasket said as he pulled his sword out. He had heard that the Zeo rangers had gotten new powers, and this was his first time seeing them in action.

"How exciting dear.", Archerina said as she clasped her hands together and looked over at her husband. "The first act of the new Machine Empire will be to destroy two of Earth's rangers."

"Overconfidence is a killer.", Carri said as she eyed down Archerina

"Silo!", Gasket called for his right hand monster

"Not so fast!", Andros yelled as he jumped out in front. "Spiral saber!", he called for his weapon and ran to attack Silo before he could get near the Ninja Zeo's.

"I see you brought a friend. No matter we still have an army of cogs.", Gasket reminded them. Much to his dismay, two more Astro rangers jumped out and started fighting with the cogs.

"Actually we brought friends.", Carri corrected with a smirk on her face. "We had to make sure your full attention was on us.", she said as she put her feet together and jumped high into the air. "Power daggers!", she yelled as she struck Archerina on her way down

"Power sword!", Tommy cried running for Gasket as the weapon appeared in his hands

With that the battle began. Archerina and Gasket were certainly not expecting, nor were they prepared for, the return of their enemies. But that didn't keep them from fighting them. However as the fight went on, Gasket and Archerina found themselves wondering if everything they had worked so hard to build in the last few weeks was going to be destroyed. Tommy and Carri's new powers were much stronger than the Zeo powers and difficult to handle.

Ashley and TJ worked through the cogs with ease. Ashley smiled. "I don't remember them being this easy before."

TJ laughed at her. "That's because you weren't a ranger before.", he reminded her. The duo took out the rest of the cogs and went to help Andros attack Silo. They came up behind him and put their weapons into booster mode before firing on Silo.

Silo spun around to see who had attacked him. He was angered by the Blue and Yellow rangers and he fired missiles at them. While Silo was distracted, Andros attacked him from behind, using his Spiral Saber to destroy him. As Silo hit the ground, Andros noticed the missiles that TJ and Ashley were ducking away from. Both were heading straight for the mining equipment that Gasket and Archerina were using on the planet's core. One missile hit the equipment, causing it to fall apart and cave in, falling straight toward the core. The other missile was shorter range than the first, falling right through the pit and toward the core as well.

Andros looked on in horror. This could not be good. Noone else had noticed what happened. Gasket noticed Silo fall, and was too busy thinking how disappointed he was that he hadn't created a way to make him grow yet. Archerina had her hands too full to even notice Silo. Everyone finally noticed when things started making contact with the core causing the planet to rumble.

"What was that?", asked Gasket

"I don't know dear but I don't think it was good.", Archerina said as she watched the other three rangers come to Tommy and Carri's side

"Remember how I said the planet was unstable?", Andros asked as he looked toward the spot where the mining equipment once stood

"Let's get out of here.", Tommy said and Andros nodded as they called for their Galaxy Gliders. As they stood, the planet started shaking violently. They jumped on the gilders and took off, leaving Gasket and Archerina on the surface.

"Darling where's our ship?", Archerina asked

Gasket cursed under his breath as he watched the rangers take off. "One of the cogs took it for supplies.", he replied. He wasn't expecting the ship to be back for a few hours, but he didn't think he had that long before the planet exploded.

DECA knew the rangers didn't have that long as they ran onto the bridge. Alpha was flipping out and the rangers ignored him as the three Astro rangers took seats and tried to get the ship out of there as quickly as possible. By Alpha and DECA's calculations, the rangers had minutes, if that to get out of there.

Carri walked over toward the controls. "What can we do?", Carri asked as a wave of energy came from the planet, knocking the ship and causing her to fall forward, smashing buttons on the communications control panel. The buttons made noises and Carri wasn't sure what she hit, but Andros didn't seem too worried about it.

"Just hold on.", Andros ordered as he went back to trying to get the ship out

Carri went back and stood behind everyone with Tommy as the two Ninja Zeo's watched. "There's a lot of interference coming from the planet, I can't get the ship to go.", Ashley said slightly panicked as she turned back toward Andros

"Try this.", Andros said as he rushed beside her and started hitting buttons

"All the systems are going screwy. Maybe we can go down and manually reset everything.", TJ suggested although he wasn't sure if they would have time

"What if I," Carri started but never got to finish as the strongest wave yet came from the planet. Carri had not been holding on to anything and started to fly head first toward the front of the ship. "Shit!", she cursed

"Carri!", Tommy exclaimed as he used his quick reflexes to reach over and grab her. She may not have been bracing herself, but he was. He quickly pulled her close to him and she grabbed onto the back of the panel they were standing at for dear life.

"I think that energy burst knocked something into place.", Ashley said excitedly. "I think we can go now."

"The planet is getting ready to explode, we don't have much time.", Andros said as he ran back to another console and furiously started hitting buttons.

As the ship started to function correctly, the space rangers keyed in what they needed to, in order to take off at top speed. Behind them they could hear the planet exploding. They were out of time.

"Hang on!", Tommy yelled as the pieces of the planet came rushing toward them

Everyone grabbed onto something as the ship started to accelerate. They weren't sure what their fate was, but they would soon find out as a strange light filled the bridge and they were gone.

* * *

That was what Billy had just shared with Kim and Rocky, and the rest of the team on that Monday morning. Kim's eyes filled with tears as she realized that the last thing she may have ever heard from Tommy was the order to hang on.

What Carri didn't realize was when she hit buttons on the communications panel was that she opened up a channel to some of their allies on a nearby planet. They listened to the communication and were quick to pass it on to Billy, who shared it with his rangers.

"So what does this mean?", Rocky asked finally starting to process what was going on. That the Astro megaship had exploded in its efforts to escape the planet's atmosphere.

"Don't think the worst.", Billy said as he looked his friend in the eye. Although Billy would have to admit that he was thinking the worst too.

"That planet exploded and took the ship with it.", Kim snapped. She immediately regretted snapping at Billy like that, it wasn't his fault. But she was sad, and angry, and had to get her emotions out somehow.

"They may still be alive.", Billy replied

"How?", Cassie questioned. "We heard the transmission, we know what happened."

"Yeah and they would have contacted us by now to let us know they were alright.", Carlos added.

"What if they can't?", Billy suggested. "What if they got away but the blast killed the ship's power. Perhaps they're floating around out there with no way to contact us and no way to get home."

"So how do we help them?", Rocky asked trying to be optimistic. It was hard though because what they heard from that transmission gave them all the reason to be negative.

"I will get some of the rangers on other planets to go out there and organize a search for the ship. In the meantime, Trini will stay in the Command Chamber and work on monitoring Astronema's activities while I'll keep an eye out on everyone else and let you know if we need to take action. That's how we can help them.", Billy said looking specifically at Kim and Rocky

Jason walked over and stood in front of the duo. "He's right. We can help them by not letting the planet get destroyed. If they're out there, we'll find them. But Tommy and Carri aren't going to be happy when they come back and nothing's left."

"Yeah I guess you're right.", Kim whispered. Neither she nor Rocky found Jason's comment amusing like he hoped they would. Not that Jason wasn't saddened by the situation, but somebody had to keep the tone light because they still had a universe to protect. Usually it was Rocky making jokes, but he was far from any position to be trying to make other people smile.

"You guys want to go back?", he asked

Rocky nodded his head yes as Kim sighed heavily. They didn't want to leave, they wanted to know now. But searches took time and the best thing for them to do would be to head over to the apartment. Cassie and Carlos sadly said their goodbyes as they left, then Jason took Kim and Rocky and teleported them back. It was going to be a long wait, and the rangers could do nothing except continue to defend Earth and prey for the safe recovery of their friends.

The End


End file.
